Sorry that I have been a little slack with my updates. I have been worn out since I stayed up all night this past weekend participating in my fantasy League football draft. I am not too optimistic since I have not been able to see any exhibition games and the sports news is basically what I can find online. Oh well, hopefully Dubai cable will allow me to see some games...Same is true with baseball, I have only seen one game since I got here, the Reds are finally having a good year, I think I'll be able to see some playoff games.
Monday, I spent the day in Abu Dhabi. They are building a new theme park on Yaz Island just this side of Abu Dhabi. The park is called Ferrari world and yes believe it or not will be the worlds largest indoor theme park. It is scheduled to open in October. I took a couple of pictures (hard to be tourist and business man) and will post them on facebook in the next 24 hours. Yaz Island is a new resort, they have a new Crown plaza and 3 or 4 other hotels all adjacent to a Marina and this new theme park. There is also a Marina there.
We went on into Abu Dhabi after our appointment and met with the Chef at another 5 star hotel. Bob actually had worked with this chef during the Olympics in Atlanta. It's a small world, and yes we should pick up some major business. On the drive back it occurred to me I have not talked about the "Interstate system" here.
The roads are in a constant growth status. On my 12 minute drive to work there will be at least two different places that road crews are either doing repair work or expansion. There are virtually no pot holes since we have no winter. The roads have different speed limits from 60 khm to 120 khm. (not so fast to pretty darn fast, I should have paid attention to metrics in school- I remember saying "Why waste time on this we will never use it" lol,,,). They enforce the speed limits with radar photo boxes that are in the median that are moved regularly. The fines are from 250 Dirhaims on up, and they don't care how many you get as long as you pay them. Of course you can go to court. It is called the "Rulers Court" - Good luck with that.
Drivers hare are just the opposite of everything else. They are extremely aggressive and very uncourteous. They will merge without a blinker causing you to slam on your brakes. At lights they absolutely lay on the horn at the slightest delay. They will make illegal turns right in front of you and they Love speed. On the other hand the penalty from running a red light is a large fine and 6 month loss of license, so nobody runs them. On Monday, I had my cruise control at 135 khms and I was in the left lane, a SUV came up from behind me and before I could get moved over it passed me on the shoulder....this is a 4 lane highway. Defensive driving is a must. Now the penalty for flipping someone off can actually be deportation, but if you are lucky and it is your first offense 30 days in jail will suffice. On a similar note, if you are involved in a physical altercation, no matter who starts it, deportation is in order. Conform you are in paradise, don't conform get out...pretty clear message.
The most common political discussions going on right now are the Palestine/Israeli situation and Israel/Iran nuclear conflict. Most expats (Non-citizens) are concerned about the possibility of war and what could happen is Israel takes out Iran's Nuclear reactors. Remember, Iran is just across the strait of Hormuz (less than 100 miles at its tightest place), and that is the area Iran has threatened to cut off the worlds supply of oil if they are attacked. Along the coast many ships make daily trips across the straight delivering goods to Iran breaking the embargo. It is big business here. Bob and I are planning on registering with their US Embassy shortly, so that we can be easily found in the event of a regional crisis.
Keep your fingers crossed that everything is resolved peacefully.
Catch up with you soon....
John
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